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Dancing in the Moonlight - Harlequin.com

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RAEANNE THAYNE<br />

55<br />

He reached a hand out. “Come on. It won’t kill you<br />

to say yes.”<br />

To him, it might. She swallowed. “Yes. Okay. Thank<br />

you. Just a moment. I have to put <strong>the</strong> pros<strong>the</strong>sis back<br />

on or I won’t be able to dismount.”<br />

“I can help you with that, too. I’ll just drive around<br />

to <strong>the</strong> barn and meet you <strong>the</strong>re.”<br />

Just leave, for heaven’s sake! “No. I’ll be f<strong>in</strong>e.”<br />

Ignor<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> sharp stabs of pa<strong>in</strong>, she pulled her stump<br />

sock back on, <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> pros<strong>the</strong>sis over that. With no<br />

small amount of pride <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> m<strong>in</strong>or ac<strong>com</strong>plishment, she<br />

forced herself to move casually toward <strong>the</strong> sweet little<br />

bay mare she liked to ride whenever she was home.<br />

Jake met her at <strong>the</strong> horse’s side. Instead of simply<br />

giv<strong>in</strong>g her a boost <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> saddle as she expected, he lifted<br />

her <strong>in</strong>to his arms with what appeared to be no effort.<br />

For just a moment he held her close. He smelled <strong>in</strong>credible,<br />

a strangely <strong>com</strong>pell<strong>in</strong>g mixture of fabric<br />

softener, clean male and some k<strong>in</strong>d of ruggedly sexy<br />

aftershave that rem<strong>in</strong>ded her of stand<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> a high<br />

mounta<strong>in</strong> forest after a summer storm.<br />

She couldn’t believe how secure she felt to have<br />

strong male arms around her, even for a moment—even<br />

though those arms belonged to Jake Dalton.<br />

Her heart pounded so hard she thought he must certa<strong>in</strong>ly<br />

be able to hear it, and she needed every iota of<br />

concentration to keep her features and her body<br />

language coolly <strong>com</strong>posed so he wouldn’t sense her<br />

reaction was anyth<strong>in</strong>g but casual.<br />

He lifted her <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> saddle and set her up, careful<br />

not to jostle her leg, <strong>the</strong>n he stepped away.

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